Dispersal modeling of octopoda paralarvae in the Gulf of Mexico

14 pages, 7 figures, 1 tableThe dynamics and population structure of octopus species in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) can be studied by analyzing dispersal paralarvae mechanisms. Accordingly, this study focused on understanding octopus paralarval dispersal using numerical modeling. A Lagrangian approach was implemented using the transport model ICHTHYOP and surface currents from a GoM simulation of the HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM). We modeled the dispersal of four octopus species from the GoM (Octopus “vulgaris”, Octopus insularis, Macrotritopus defilippi, and Amphioctopus burryi), considering two regions as the source of larvae in the southern GoM, namely the Yucatan shelf and the Veracruz coastal waters. Additionally, an environmental suitability analysis was incorporated using the maximum entropy (MaxEnt) model to establish potential settlement areas under the influence of the water masses’ thermal conditions. The simulation results supported the hypothesis that the abundances recorded in the GoM were influenced by the fertility (egg-laying) of each species, surface water circulation (the Loop Current, eddies, and wind), and sea surface temperature. Greater dispersal was obtained throughout the GoM for Yucatan species O. “vulgaris”, registering the highest settlement rates. In contrast, in Veracruz, O. insularis dispersed and settled only in the western portion of the GoM. The relevance of the ecological descriptors proposed to influence the dispersal and abundance of octopods throughout the GoM's coastal waters are discussedThis study was funded by the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología through project no. 237057 “Distribución, reproducción, biomasa y patrones de movimiento del pulpo común Octopus vulgaris Cuvier, 1797 en la costa de Yucatán” (granted to Iván Velázquez-Abunader) as well as by the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología – Mexican Ministry of Energy – Hydrocarbon Fund, Project 201441. The first author thanks the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología for scholarship no. 589996 and project no. 247043, funded through the Fondo Mixto de Fomento a la Investigación Científica y Tecnológica del Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología – Gobierno del estado de Yucatán (Fondo Mixto-Yucatán) and the Cinvestav Benthos Laboratory Research FundPeer reviewe